In 2020 a significant threat to public health emerged. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic outbreak emerged in December 2019 from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and spread to the rest of the world. This disease was named COVID-19 by World Health Organization. To date (17^th April 2020) a total of 2,230,439 cases of COVID-19; 150,810 cases of deaths and 564,210 recovered cases have been reported worldwide. In this review the SARS-CoV-2 morphology, pathogenic mechanism, similarities and differences between SARS-CoV and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome, transmission mode, diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures were investigated. The outbreak of COVID-19 from a Malaysian perspective was explored and mental health care during the COVID-19 outbreak was explored. To date, there is no vaccine or no specific treatment for COVID-19. Therefore, preventive measures are very important to prevent and control the rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Preparedness should be a priority for future pandemic outbreaks.

This study aimed to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces frequently touched by COVID-19 patients, and assess the scope of contamination and transmissibility in facilities where the outbreaks occurred. In the course of this epidemiological investigation, a total of 80 environmental specimens were collected from 6 hospitals (68 specimens) and 2 “mass facilities” (6 specimens from a rehabilitation center and 6 specimens from an apartment building complex). Specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction targeting of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and envelope genes, were used to identify the presence of this novel coronavirus. The 68 specimens from 6 hospitals (A, B, C, D, E, and G), where prior disinfection/cleaning had been performed before environmental sampling, tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. However, 2 out of 12 specimens (16.7%) from 2 “mass facilities” (F and H), where prior disinfection/cleaning had not taken place, were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase, and envelope genes. These results suggest that prompt disinfection and cleaning of potentially contaminated surfaces is an effective infection control measure. By inactivating SARS-CoV-2 with disinfection/cleaning the infectivity and transmission of the virus is blocked. This investigation of environmental sampling may help in the understanding of risk assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak in “mass facilities” and provide guidance in using effective disinfectants on contaminated surfaces.

South Korea is operating a flexible quarantine management system which is based on the results of epidemiological investigations of patients arriving from overseas with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), and closely monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks. South Korea has designated countries with a localized, high prevalence of infection as “quarantine inspection required areas” and has reinforced quarantine measures by applying special immigration procedures for people entering South Korea. Furthermore, South Korea also provides information on international travel history of entrants (who are South Korean citizens and foreign nationals) to all medical institutions, through the smart quarantine information system. On March 11^th 2020, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. Inevitably, the number of patients from overseas with COVID-19 (based on 10,000 people entering South Korea), increased to 10 cases in the second week of March, 37 cases in the third week, and 67.7 cases in the fourth week. However, after enforcing quarantine strengthening measures, and with a decrease in the number of people entering the country, the number of cases decreased to 52.0 in the first week of April.

This study aimed to observe the initial trend of imported COVID-19 cases in South Korea since the beginning of the outbreak. All imported cases were classified into 5 regions (China, Asia, Europe, Africa, and America) according to travel history and potential exposure to the COVID-19. The list of countries for which confirmed cases had a travel history (single visit, multiple visits) and presented, were used to estimate the potential “exposure countries” of confirmed cases. For better understanding of the overall imported cases, time differences (day) among 3 major steps (symptom onset, entry to South Korea, laboratory confirmation) were measured based on available data. From the first importation of a COVID-19 case on January 20^th, a total of 171 imported cases have been officially reported in South Korea as of March 23^rd 2020. The overall trend of importation has significantly changed during this period. Importation of confirmed cases were initially from China, and subsequently from other Asian countries. After that, importation from Europe rapidly increased, with importation from America also increasing. One hundred fifteen (81%) were confirmed within 7 days of symptom onset. One Hundred forty three (84.1%) imported cases were confirmed within a week after entry into South Korea. One hundred seven imported cases (75.9%) developed symptoms within 5 days before or after, entry to South Korea. Streamlined processes of detection, subsequent testing, isolation, and treatment by public health authority, was key in minimizing the risk of secondary transmission.